Analog-mixed-signal simulation of DC-DC Boost-Based MPPT system taking into account weather conditions variations

DC-DC converters are widely used as interfaces between photovoltaic (PV) sources and loads in different applications. These devices use inductors as energy storage elements for controlling the power flow from the PV source to the load. These systems are usually designed using conventional linear small-signal approaches in the vicinity of an operating point. However, the operating point of a PV system is highly dependent on the environmental conditions such as the irradiance and the temperature. Irradiance and temperature changes make the system work at different power and current levels. The inductance of a nonlinear real inductor strongly depends on the operating current. In this paper, a study of a boost converter used for maximum power point tracking is presented by taking into account the inductor nonlinearity till saturation and the variation of its inductance with the weather conditions. To this end analog-mixed-signal circuit simulations are used to show the effects of the weather conditions on the dynamical behavior of the overall PV system.